Signal means for rail cars



' Oct. 13, 1936.- R. J. BURROWS El AL 2,057,474

SIGNAL MEANS FOR RAIL CARS Filed 001;. '7; 1952 I 3 Sheets-Sheet l vZzfreci 0- Z'l/Q'ZZzdms.

R. J. BURROWS ET AL SIGNAL MEANS FOR RAIL CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 7, 1952 Jo 1936- R. J. 'BURROWS ET AL 2,057,474

v SIGNAL MEANS FOR RAIL CARS Filed Oct. 7, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 5 v4?!Wed 0. zm zzizzm Patented Oct. 13, 1936 PATENT OFFICE SIGNAL MEANS roeBAIL CARS Robert J. Burrows and Alfred 0. Williams, Battle Creek, Mich,assignors to Clark Tructractor Company, Battle Creek, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Application October '7, 1932, Serial No. 636,6766 Claims. (01. 246-34) The present invention relates generally to signalmeans for railroad cars and the like, and is particularly concerned withsignal means adapted for use on rail cars of the light weight type,

such as those employing rubber tired wheels or wheels of other resilientor cushioned construction.

Conventional railway signal equipment in general use at the present timeusually includes semaphore and other types of signals actuated byarranging the rails of a section of the track in the signal circuit sothat the passage of the train over the section short-circuits the railsand thereby operates the signals. Ordinarily, 15, the short-circuit isestablished through the wheels and axles of the train; or cars. Thevoltage between the rails of the section involved in the signal circuitis ordinarily quite low, frequently less than one volt, and dirt, rust,corrosion and the like, which accumulate on the top of the rail,sometimes tend to interfere with the proper operation of the signals.Generally, however, the relatively great weight of standard railwayrolling equipment is. sufficient to cause the car wheels to breakthrough the dirt or corrosion and to thereby secure the proper shortcircuiting of the rails and to actuate the associated signal means.

With the advent of lighter rolling stock, and especially rail cars ofthe gasoline engine vpropelled type, the problem of operating theconventional signal circuits increases in difficulty, Moreover,frequently the wheels, of light weight rail cars and the like, areequipped with rubber tires or are cushioned with rubber or similarinsulating material, and in these cases the wheels and axles of thetrucks cannot themselves be u used to shortI-circuitthe rails to operatethe railway signals. I

Having these factors in mind, the principal object of the presentinvention is the provision of short-circuitingmeans carried by rail carsand which is so constructed and arranged as to pass along the rails andto bear against them with sufiiciently high unit pressure so that a goodfirm contact is made with the rails. Specifically, the present inventioncontemplates providing electrically connected short circuiting wheels ofsmall diameter and with very narrow faces so that the unit pressure,that is, the pressure per square inch, will be'equal to or greater thanthe unit pressure of an ordinary steel railway wheel under a standardrailroad car. The present invention also contemplates causing thecontact wheels, to be resiliently held down against t e ra s s omaintain a fi m contactt w with at all times. Further, the presentinvention contemplates providing adjusting means for adjusting thepressure with which the contact wheels bear against the rails.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in theprovision of contact wheels of the general character set forth above inwhich each wheel is provided with two or more narrow tread faces. Thisis for the purpose of assuring that lateral shifting of the truckrelative to the rails will not cause the contact wheels to ride out ofcontact with the rails. Still further, another object of the presentinvention is to provide contact wheels having portions which normallyare disposed just outside the rail head but of the same diameter as theportionsthereof which normally pass along the rail. The purpose of theseouter portions is to carry the contact wheels over switch and frogintersections and other interruptions in the continuity of the rails bycontacting with the guard rails or other rail sections which are placedadjacent such interruptions. In this way the contact wheel is preventedfrom dropping into the openings between the rails, such as thoseprovided in switches, frogs, and the like to accommodate the wheelflanges.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of the trucks of a rail carembodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1 anddrawn on a somewhat larger scale;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation illustrating a slightlymodified form of construction; and g Figure 4 is a vertical, sectiontaken along the line 4..-A of Figure 3. l

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral It] indicates thebody of a rail car supported upon a frame H and provided with a carbolster 12 (Figure 2) pivotally carried upon a truck bolster l3 of moreor less conventional construction. The referencenumeral I5 indicates theside frames of the truck, and the truck bolster I3 is. carried upon theside frames through themedium of semi-elliptic. springs Hi. In Figure 1the truck illustrated is shown as the driving truck,

that is, the truck is provided with a suitable differential and bevelgearing to which power is. de-

provided with wheels 26 carried upon driving axles which are suitablyjournaled for rotation within axle housings 22, the latter being mountedfor rocking movement within bearing means'23 car- I ried at the ends ofthe side frames 15. Rotation of the axle housings 22 relative to theside frames is resisted by torque arms 25 and 26, they former supportingthe differential housing 21 while the latter is resiliently anchored tothe truck bolster, through the medium of cushioning springs or theequivalent enclosed within a two-part casing 28. The inner end of thetorque arm 25 isqanchored to the side frames l5 by means of a suitableyoke 3|. The wheels 26 are preferably of the rubber tire type, such asis disclosed and claimed in our copending application filed April 6,1932, for a Wheel, Serial No. 603,463, although they may be of any otherconstruction desired.

As mentioned above, where the railway rolling stock is of light weightor where the wheels employed are provided with rubber tires, the wheelsand axles of the rolling stock may not be adapted to establish theproper circuit from one rail to another toactuate the railway signals,and to supply this requirement the present invention contemplates theprovision of auxiliary means carried by the rail 'car truck and servingto electrically bridge the rails and to be pressed down against themwith sufficient force to establish a good firm contact therewith.According to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, this shortcircuiting means includes a steel or similar shaft 35 carrying at itsouter ends disc-like contact wheels 36 rigidly secured thereto andspaced apart so that each rides over one of the associated rails. Eachof the contact wheels 36 includes a plurality of sections 38, 39 and 46.All of these sections have narrow tread faces and the two inner discs 38and 39 are spaced apart an amount sufficient to take care of any lateralmovement of the truck relative to the wheels. Thus, during any lateralshifting of the truck there is always at least one of the inner discs 38or 39 in firm contact with the rail. The outer disc 40 of each of thecontact wheels is normally not in contact with the rail and is spacedfrom the disc 39 a distance somewhat less than the spacing between theinner discs 38 and 39. The function of the outer disc 46 of each of thewheels is to contact with the guard rail sections adjacent interruptionsin the continuity of the main rails, such as are encountered atswitches, frogs and the like where some provision must be made for thewheel flanges of the cars crossing over or turning out. At such pointsthe outer discs 40 will ride over such interruptions and prevent thecontact wheels from dropping into the openings at such interruptions. V

In order to establish a high unit pressure between the contact wheelsand the rails, the disc sections are provided with very narrow faces,and in order to cause these narrow faces to break through any dirt andcorrosion which may accumulate on top of the rail head, the wheels 36are pressed downwardly against the rails by means which reacts againstthe 5 d? f amesfi.

sponding frame member and extending downwardly and terminating in a pairof apertured lugs 41 which receive a pivot pin 49 upon which one end ofeach of the arms is carried.

The arms 44 are resiliently pressed downwardly against the rails byadjustable spring means indicated generally by the reference numeral 5|.Such means includes a bracket 52 secured to the outside flange of eachof the side frames l5 and :suitably threaded to receive an adjustingscrew 53, the lower end of which terminates in a head 54 constructed andarranged to accommodate the upper end of a compression spring 55. Thelower end of the spring 55 bears against the horizontal portion 56(see'Figure 1) of the associated arm 44. The adjusting screw 53 carriesa lock nut 51 for securely holding the screw in adjusted position. Theupper end of each screw carries a thumb piece 58 to facilitate adjustingthe tension exerted by the springs 55. The head 54 and the arm 44 ofeach side of the truck are each provided with bosses, indicated at 60and 6|, adapted to receive the spring 55 and to prevent the latter frombecoming displaced. As best shown in Figure 2, the arms 44 are formed tocurve outwardly from their pivoted ends so as to dispose the bearings4243 near the contact wheels 36. Under certain conditions it may bepreferable to have each of the contact wheels mounted on the shaft 35 ona loose rotating bearing, in which case the ball type bearings 42-43 maybe eliminated and the shaft 35 connected directly with the outer ends ofthe arms 44. However, in view of the low voltage available for actuatingthe railway signals, the rigid construction illustrated in Figure 2 isusually preferable to a construction in which the wheels 36 are mountedby bearings on the shaft 35.

In Figures 3 and 4 We have shown a somewhat simplified form ofconstruction in which the arms 44 are replaced by leaf spring means 64,the inherent resiliency of which serves to accommodate angulardisplacement of the shaft 35 relative to the side frames I5 of thetruck. In this way, the ball type of bearing 42-43 shown in Figure 2 isunnecessary. In Figures 3 and 4 each side frame I 5 carries a bracket 65of the depending type riveted or otherwise permanently secured to theside frame. Each bracket 65 terminates in a cylindrical sleeve portion66 which receives a pivot pin or stud 68. The stud 68 extends outwardlyat each side of the truck to receive a bracket 16 which provides aspring seat H for the spring 64 and an upwardly extending arm 12 whichterminates in a pair of forks 14. The forks 14 of each of the brackets16 are apertured to receive a pivot pin "I5 upon which one end of anadjusting rod 18 is mounted. The opposite end of each of the adjustingrods 18 is threaded, as at 19, and is disposed within a small bracket 8|carried at the side of the truck. Adjusting nuts 82 are mounted on therods 18 and bear against the brackets 8|. One end of each of the leafsprings 64 is secured to the associated spring seat H by U-bolts 85while the other end of each of the springs 64 carries a U-bolt 86 whichembraces a cylindrical bearing member 88 in which the shaft is journaledfor rotation. The stud 68 may be rigidly connected with either thebracket 65 or the bracket 10 or it may be loosely received within eachof them, the principal essential being that each of the brackets 10shall be capable of rocking movement in a vertical plane relative to theside frames l5. As will be clear from Figure 3, tightening the nut 82will occasion a counterclockwise movement of the bracket 10 relative tothe side frame l5 and the bracket 65, and this will deflect theassociated spring 64 and cause the associated contact wheel 36 to bearheavily against the supporting rail. Obviously, the more theadjustingnut 82 is tightened the greater will be the pressure with which thecontact wheel 36 bears against the rail. Since the spring arms 64 areresilient, obviously they are capable of being flexed to a limitedextent about their general longitudinal axis as well as in alongitudinal vertical plane. There is, therefore, no necessity for auniversal bearing construction such as is shown in Figure 2.

While the truck shown in Figures 1 and 3 is the driving truck of a railcar it is to be understood that the present rail short circuiting meansmay be mounted on a trailing truck and that each truck of a car may beprovided with such rail short circuiting means, whether the trucks bedriving trucks or trailing trucks. It is also to be understood that eachtruck may be provided with more than one set of rail short circuitingmeans if necessary or desirable.

While we have shown and described above the preferred structuralembodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that ourinvention is not to be limited to the specific details shown anddescribed, but that in, widely different means may be employed in thebroader aspects of our invention.

What we claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In alight weight rail car, a truck having side frames and supportingwheels, means carried by each of said side frames adjacent thesupporting wheel at that side and presenting a limited area forcontinuous contact with the adjacent rail, resilient means reactingagainst each of said side frames for independently pressing each of saidcontact means against the associated rail with a greater unit pressurethan that with which said supporting wheels bear against said rails, andcon ducting means independent of said resilient means for connectingsaid contact means to shortcircuit said rails.

2. In a rail car, a truck having side frames and supporting wheels,bracket means carried by each frame between said supporting wheels, aspring arm pivotally supported in each of said bracket means, a contactmember at the outer end of each of said spring arms and provided with anarrow face presenting a limited area for contact with the associatedrail, means for urging each of said spring arms downwardly to cause saidcontact members to resiliently bear against said rails with a high unitpressure, and conducting means separate from said spring armselectrically joining said contact members for short-circuiting saidrails for signal purposes.

3. In a rail car, a truck having side frames, a bracket secured to eachof said frames, a rigid arm pivotally supported by each of said bracketsand extending to a point adjacent the rail on that side, a transverseshaft formed of conducting material, spherical bearing means connectingsaid shaft and the ends of said arms, thereby providing for angularmovement of said shaft with respect to said side frames, rail contactingwheels mounted at the ends of said shaft and having relatively narrowtread'surfaces to bear against said rails, and means reacting againsteach of the side frames for resiliently pressing said rigid armsdownwardly to force the associated wheel into firm contact with theassociated rail.

4. In a rail car, a truck having side frames, a bracket secured to eachof said frames, a spring arm pivotally connected with each of saidbrackets and extending to points adjacent the corresponding rail, railcontacting means carried by said spring arms and presenting a limitedarea for continuous high pressure contact with the rail, meansassociated .with each of said arms for adjusting the tension exertedthereby through said contact means against the associated railindependently of the tension exerted by, the other spring arm, and rigidmeans connecting said contact members and movable angularly by virtue ofthe flexibility of said spring arms with respect to said side frames.

5. In a rail car, a truck having side frames, a bracket secured to eachof said frames, a rigid arm pivotally supported by each of said bracketsand extending to a point adjacent the rail on that side, a transverseshaft formed of conducting material, spherical bearing means connectingsaid shaft and the ends of said arms, thereby providing for angularmovement of said shaft with respect to said side frames, rail contactingwheels mounted at the ends of said shaft and having relatively narrowtread surfaces to bear against said rails, a second bracket secured-toone side of each of said side frames and substantially over the free endof the associated arm, spring means disposed between said arm and saidsec-0nd bracket, and means supported by said bracket for adjusting thetension of said spring means.

6. In a rail car, a truck having side frames, a depending bracketsecured to and extending downwardly from each of said frames, an armpivotally connected at one end to each of said brackets and including aresilient part, rail contacting means carried adjacent the other end ofsaid arms and presenting a limited area for continuous high pressurecontact with the associated rail, separate means carried, respectively,by said side frames and reacting against the resilient part of theassociated arm for adjusting the pressure exerted thereby through saidcontact means against the associated rail independently of the pressureexerted through the contact means for the other rail, and rigid meansconnecting said contact members and connected to said other ends of saidarms, and rigid means movable angularly by virtue of the flexibility ofsaid resilient parts.

ROBERT J. BURROWS.

ALFRED O. WILLIAMS.

